Old Consciousness: Focused on the individual.
New Consciousness: Aimed at the universal, reflecting a broader perspective that influenced both World War and contemporary art.
War destructed the individual-focused old world.
Call for a new balance between individuality and universality in art and culture.
Emphasizes equality between the universal and individual.
Advocates for liberation from tradition and the cult of individuality.
Influenced by both Spinozan philosophy and Dutch Calvinism.
Key figures: Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, Gerrit Rietveld, Bart van der Leck.
Aimed to transcend individual tragedy through a universal consciousness.
1918 Manifesto: Established foundational principles emphasizing purity and the need for reform in art.
Art Reformation: Influenced by Schoenmaekers’s Neo-Platonic philosophy.
Prioritized geometric abstraction and primary colors (yellow, blue, red).
Robert van 't Hoff: Early architectural works inspired by Wright.
Rietveld's Red/Blue Chair: A significant projection of Neo-Plasticism into three-dimensional forms.
Architecture aimed for openness and the elimination of cubic restrictions.
Lissitzky's Influence: Introduced Proun compositions, blending Russian and Dutch elementarism.
Van Doesburg’s works evolved under these new influences, moving away from strict Neo-Plasticism.
1925: Split between Mondrian and Van Doesburg over aesthetics.
Concern for universality shifted toward addressing technical and social aspects.
Collective Building: Integration of architecture, sculpture, and painting.
End of Conventional Art: Focus on creating a unified environment free from individualistic notions.
Final works reflected a return to abstraction, losing earlier unity.
After 1930, most original artists diverged significantly from De Stijl's foundational principles, evolving into varied modern art movements.